Ticket scalpers at Pulogadung

Ticket scalpers at Pulogadung

From Neraca

On the evening of Dec. 31, 1996 my friends and I were on our
way to spend the holidays in Kuningan, West Java. We went to the
Pulogadung bus terminal.

We bought tickets at the counter as usual, but, when we took
up our places in the bus, we were surprised by a group of people
who hastily clambered aboard. It appeared they were the
terminal's daily scalpers.

We were shocked and terribly disappointed when we noted how
these people controlled the terminal and abused prospective
passengers of overland buses. Conductors were powerless in the
face of these blackmailing scalpers.

We witnessed how they demanded money and put pressure on
passengers, and how their attitude rendered both driver and
conductor powerless.

When a passenger would object, the scalper controlling our bus
took on a threatening pose accompanied with nasty words. The
situation would worsen if the passenger was not prepared to pay
the requested amount. He or she would then be made to get off,
after which the poor traveler would be further terrorized with a
knife.

It is not surprising that passengers, under such threats,
would give up and pay the Rp 500 demanded.

Through this letter I am appealing to security officials to do
something about these scalpers who roam every day in the vicinity
of Pulogadung.

EFENDI MASUD

Jakarta